Roll Cage price?

[ulivisweldworks]

My friend asked me to install a 6 point cage in his 95 camaro. It will be mild steel, Tig and Mig welded.
He wants to pay me something and asked me for a price...I have no clue what to charge him. Its tough doing work for friends because I feel like a jerk asking for anything!
Keep in mind he will be gutting the whole interior himself and helping with the installation along with another guy. I am basically there to do the welding part. The cage is being bought in kit form too, so no tube bending or anything.
Anyone have any suggestions on what a fair price would be?

[Charley Davidson]

First pass down the strip

[ulivisweldworks]

I dunno....I am a Ford man myself. My blood runs blue. Dont know what people would think if they saw me in a Camaro!

[SICFabrications]

i'll tell you this... i charge 65 bucks per hour on site and 55 in the shop for standard carbon steel.... regardless if its for a buddy or not.... i have to afford my ex-wife somehow. structural is higher and exotics are even higher priced.

[arandall]

You shouldn't feel bad about asking to get paid for your work. Real friends will understand that. - Just give them a fair deal - they should understand.

[WookieWelding]

there is also Liability involved if someone gets hurt or dies due to a failed weld not saying that you cant weld but you could lose your ass if you dont have a bond for doing the work

[KHK]

I have done countless jobs for Friends and never charged them anything. Looking back, I think I should have charged them something. I would go with $20 an hour with beer and no liability.

[brucer]

i would go at least $20hr cash... for installing a kit...


example, when i did alot of cages, i would get the same as you, friends approaching for cheap work, then selling their cars later for alot more profit because it had a cage in it..... theres something you have to look at, its your time, your machine, your tools, your space and materials... if your friend went to a professional they would charge right inline with what stan said... $60-$65hr kit or not

if you set the kit and weld it up with no paint i would shoot for around $200-$250 and actually i wouldnt want them there, they'll be in your way and slow you down more than they will help...

i would want about $125 up front, to cover materials (roll of wire and a bottle of gas and a lil cash) so no money is coming out of your pocket , then you can figure out the rest when your done before the vehicle leaves. money does strange things to a friendship..

if he gets a good kit you can do it pretty easy in a couple of days, depending on how many extras you add into the cage, i would always put rocker bars and some extra gussets and such... a cage looks alot better when you add in some simple 1inch dia gussets... if its a cheap kit, some of them just suck and arent worth the box they're shipped in...

if this is your first cage, do it right and make it look nice, get that money and put it towards a bender... if you do a good job on it you'll get more cage work, a bender can make you alot of money if the work is in your location....

[Freddytk421]

Make a video of you building it and put it on youtube.

[ASE MasterTech]

money does strange things to a friendship..

True, but not to a good friendship...
If they 'expect' you to do for free what they would otherwise have to pay for, then they are not really a friend.

BTW, I do understand that your friend said that he was willing to pay you, & that your looking here for quote expectations, but..
If I were in your situation, I would tell my friend that I'm super busy but that i definitely wanna help him out. I would ask him to get a few quotes from some shops & say that because he's your bud, you can 'squeeze' him in for 1/2 half their price (or less if you'd like). Win/Win, he's happy cause he's paying a lot less & is having someone he knows & trusts do the work (if he's truly a friend & not actually expecting something for nothing), & your happy because you can at least cover your costs & help out a friend..